The Art of Teasing - Chapter 26
Chapter 26
If someone said others had designs on her before her father went bankrupt and fled, or when her family was selling off their assets, she would have believed it. Before her father's bankruptcy, the combined wealth of Old Master Wen and her father had made quite a few people interested in her inheritance rights, wanting to participate as her life partner. When her family was selling off their assets, some people thought her family had fallen on hard times, that she was at her wit's end, that there was an opportunity to take advantage. They took a liking to her and made her offers. But now, she had neither a fortune to covet, nor was she the kind of person who would starve to death without family support. There truly wasn't anything left for people to covet.
For Wen Zhengyu, regarding the Old Master's matter, she needed to figure out whether the other party was only after money, or whether Mr. Wen Shiyi had offended someone in the past, and now the other party wanted to take advantage of her family's downfall to exact revenge upon the grandfather and granddaughter.
If it was for money, the worst outcome would be that the item and the money couldn't be recovered, and she would toil for a few years to pay off that debt.
If it was revenge, then it required a completely different approach.
How things truly stood, Wen Zhengyu would have to wait for Zhan Cheng to investigate before she knew.
Wen Zhengyu had pawned the bracelet left by her grandmother, which was equivalent to owing seven million in external debt. She dared not not work diligently. After accompanying the Old Master for lunch at the hospital and informing him of her itinerary, she went on with her work at the art studio.
She had scheduled a meeting with people from the auction house that afternoon at the studio to discuss the winter auction collaboration.
After work, she first went to the hospital to see Old Master Wen, accompanied him through dinner, and then walked for an hour downstairs in the inpatient building's grounds. Only after learning that Zhan Cheng was already waiting for her at home did she bid the Old Master farewell and take a taxi home.
Discovering who the other party was wasn't particularly difficult.
As for the antique shop owner, even setting aside Old Master Wen, Wen Zhengyu herself had known him for over a decade. And concerning the sellers introduced by that shop owner, Old Master Wen had met them in person, giving them many ways to ascertain their identity information. As for whether there was someone else behind them pulling the strings, that was the part that would take more effort.
Zhan Cheng had only been out for half a day and had so far only verified the specific identities of that group.
The group that sold the Old Master the antiques was a crew of unscrupulous antique dealers, who had extensive dealings with this antique shop owner. Most of the goods they acquired were sold off through the owner of this antique shop.
Zhan Cheng said, "There is a piece of information that hasn't been confirmed yet."
Wen Zhengyu said, "Go ahead."
Zhan Cheng said, "This group currently still has a batch of freshly excavated goods in hand."
Wen Zhengyu froze for a moment, instinctively wanting to ask, "My grandfather didn't buy any, did he?" but then she reasoned that someone as principled as the Old Master, who cherished his reputation so much, would absolutely never touch anything that could implicate him in illegal activities. She swallowed her words back down.
Zhan Cheng hesitated and then said, "There's another matter."
Wen Zhengyu perceived Zhan Cheng's hesitation and nodded slightly to signal he should just speak. Worried that Zhan Cheng had reservations, she said, "Uncle Zhan, if there's something, speak directly. If you tell me, I can at least have a clear picture of the situation."
Zhan Cheng said, "There are also other people investigating. I kept an eye on them and saw them make contact with Ye Ling's assistant."
Wen Zhengyu asked, stunned, "Ye Ling's assistant?"
Zhan Cheng said, "The one surnamed Dong, called Dong Yuan."
Wen Zhengyu didn't have a favorable impression of Ye Ling, so she hadn't paid much attention to the people around Ye Ling either. Hearing Zhan Cheng mention Dong Yuan, she couldn't place who he was talking about for a moment.
Zhan Cheng said, "Not very tall, on the lean side, always wearing a suit, very well-tailored, the one who knows martial arts."
Although Wen Zhengyu didn't know the names of Ye Ling's attendants, having seen them many times, the physical descriptions matched. She couldn't help but glance at Zhan Cheng upon hearing this and said, "Uncle Zhan, you're talking about Ye Ling's personal assistant? The one who follows her everywhere?"
Zhan Cheng nodded. Having reported everything he needed to, and seeing that Wen Zhengyu had no further instructions, he said, "Eldest Miss, if there are no other orders, I'll get back to work."
Wen Zhengyu said, "Don't tell my grandfather about Ye Ling's matter for now. Keep an eye on her movements."
Zhan Cheng responded, "Alright," and then left.
Wen Zhengyu found it very strange. What did Ye Ling mean by getting involved?
Although she and Ye Ling were business partners, they weren't yet familiar enough to be concerned with each other's private affairs. She didn't believe it was a coincidence that Ye Ling had sent someone to investigate. But without any evidence, what if it was a coincidence, or if Ye Ling simply claimed it was a coincidence? Before determining Ye Ling's motive and objective, she decided she would simply observe for now.
That night, Wen Zhengyu had another dream. She dreamed she had turned into the little sprite and fallen into the sea, drifting upon the vast ocean, when suddenly a fierce wind arose. Then her cell phone ringtone pulled her thoughts from the dream back to reality. She opened her eyes and picked up her phone, seeing it was a call from Zhan Cheng. She glanced at the time and instantly became fully awake. Four-thirty in the morning. For Zhan Cheng to call her, it had to be something urgent.
Wen Zhengyu sat up and said, "Uncle Zhan," and asked, "What is it?"
Zhan Cheng said, "That group I was investigating today was just arrested."
Wen Zhengyu asked, stunned, "What happened?"
Zhan Cheng said, "They acquired several excavated ancient artifacts from a group of tomb raiders. The police caught the tomb raiders and then followed the trail to this group."
Wen Zhengyu asked, "They were just arrested now?"
Zhan Cheng said, "Just put into the police cars."
Wen Zhengyu pressed, "Were they all residing together? Were they all arrested?"
Zhan Cheng said, "They weren't residing together, but the arrests were carried out simultaneously."
Wen Zhengyu paused for a moment before recovering her composure and asking, "What about the antique shop?"
Zhan Cheng said, "No activity yet."
Wen Zhengyu said, "Alright, keep a close watch on the antique shop for now. If there's any movement, call me at any time."
Zhan Cheng replied, "Okay, I'll keep a close watch."
Wen Zhengyu gave an "Mm" of acknowledgment and hung up Zhan Cheng's call. She checked the time again; it had just passed four-thirty in the morning. For a group of people to be arrested simultaneously at different locations at this hour? This required the efficiency of a special task force, didn't it?
For that group to be caught at this critical juncture was simply too coincidental.
Wen Zhengyu really wanted to call Ye Ling and ask, "Was this you?"
Making the call was easy, asking the question was easy, but what came after?
Once police investigations were involved, many things became difficult to discuss.
Even if Ye Ling admitted she had sent someone to gather leads and then file a report, what could she say? She couldn't exactly say Ye Ling was wrong. Perhaps the police would even present Ye Ling with a "Model Citizen" banner.
Wen Zhengyu could only secretly marvel at how swift Ye Ling's hand was.
She placed her phone on the nightstand, lay back down to sleep, closed her eyes, and once again pondered Ye Ling's motive for getting involved in this matter. The result remained just as inexplicable as all those other things Ye Ling had done before. She couldn't possibly explain it away by saying Ye Ling was interested in her, could she?
Could Ye Ling's sexual orientation be toward the same sex?
The thought made Wen Zhengyu freeze on the spot, a bit frightened.
What Ye Ling's sexual orientation was wasn't scary in itself. What was terrifying was: what if Ye Ling liked her?
Back when Ye Ling bought her family's house, that line "I really like it" had nearly left her with psychological trauma.
This thought was more terrifying than a nightmare, and somewhat absurd. She hurriedly pushed the idea from her mind, only then noticing that the thought had scared her heart into thumping loudly.
Being liked by Ye Ling truly was far more terrifying than owing seven million.
Wen Zhengyu didn't consider herself a timid person, yet startled by the thought that had sprung into her mind, all drowsiness vanished. She was stricken with insomnia.
She lay in bed, eyes wide open, until dawn.
She heard the sound of the heavy courtyard gate being pushed open. Sun Yuan had already bought groceries and arrived to make breakfast. Left with no choice, she listlessly got up to wash up.
After washing, she went downstairs and sat on the living room sofa, listlessly propping her chin on her hand, and before she knew it, her mind had drifted back to the question of whether that lunatic Ye Ling liked her.
If it were someone else liking her, refusing a few times or simply ignoring them would naturally make them back off.
But if it were Ye Ling... her father had already been dealt with by Ye Ling, and even her grandfather hadn't gotten the upper hand when negotiating a deal with Ye Ling.
Wen Zhengyu's train of thought turned, and she suddenly came to a realization. Liking someone or not and business dealings were two separate matters. Moreover, Ye Ling had never said she liked her. At most, she had shown a strong interest in her paintings. Even if Ye Ling did like her, she could still refuse.
With this thought, the panic in Wen Zhengyu's heart subsided somewhat, and she gradually calmed down.
She recalled how she had been so frightened by that lunatic Ye Ling that she hadn't slept well. Looking in the mirror, sure enough, there were faint dark circles under her eyes.
Wen Zhengyu had no choice but to return to her room, apply light makeup, and use a bit of concealer to cover the shadows under her eyes.
After Sun Yuan had prepared breakfast, she and Sun Yuan first went to the hospital to accompany Old Master Wen for breakfast, and then she headed to the art studio to work.
The daily routine was always more or less the same: first, open the windows for ventilation, then conduct routine inspections of each department.
When she reached the first-floor exhibition hall, she heard the distinctive sound of Ye Ling's high heels landing at the entrance. She turned her head and saw Ye Ling, leading her assistant named Dong Yuan and accompanied by two bodyguards and a secretary, entering from outside.
Ye Ling's gaze swept over her face twice, and then she revealed a smile and said, "Zhengyu, morning."
Wen Zhengyu replied, "Morning." She noticed Ye Ling's gaze still fixed on her face, as if set on seeing through that bit of makeup and exposing the dark circles underneath before she would relent. Too lazy to engage with Ye Ling, she turned her head back in exasperation and continued inspecting the exhibition hall.
Her phone rang. She pulled out her phone and saw it was a call from Zhan Cheng. She said "Hello," and heard Zhan Cheng say, "Eldest Miss, just now some police officers came to the antique shop. They inquired for quite a while before leaving."
Wen Zhengyu said, "Understood. Keep watching. I suspect he'll likely come looking for my grandfather soon." After she finished speaking, remembering that Ye Ling was still nearby, she turned her head to look at Ye Ling.
Ye Ling gave her a faint smile, as if nothing had happened, and walked directly upstairs.
Wen Zhengyu stared at Ye Ling's retreating figure and at Dong Yuan following behind her, sorely tempted to expose the two of them. But in this matter, the person had helped her out, and she had accepted the favor, owing a debt of gratitude. It wasn't convenient to speak of it openly.
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